The Nation at War The United States of America in World War I 1917 – 1919
The United States in World War I Shifting European Alliances and Conflict Draw America into Battle World War I was the war to end all wars and had major consequences for Americans both at home and abroad. Though many in Europe and America believed the war would be quick and decisive, it became a war of attrition, with soldiers fighting in the trenches for years ferociously attempting to move the battle lines by mere inches. The war was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history claiming casualties in the tens of millions. President Woodrow Wilson had steered the United States away from war maintaining a policy of Cautious Neutrality until 1917 when America joined the effort on the side of the Allied Powers predominantly consisting of the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. Domestically, the war impacted the politics, culture, and society of the United States with women gaining the right to vote while other groups of citizens remaining marginalized or subject to systematic repression.
The European March Toward War Understanding the Context of World War I After the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, the Congress of Vienna met in 1814 seeking to create peace and a balance of power in Europe by dismantling the French Empire and giving monarchs back their thrones. At the same time, a new political ideal of nationalism was sweeping through Europe with the underpinning that nations should be formed based on the people who shared common heritage, language, and customs rather than by the rule of monarchs who had gained their land by winning wars, signing treaties, and arranging marriages. The result of monarch rule led to Europe having empires that included many nationalities within their borders such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. As nationalism spread across Europe it tore apart empires and built nations. By the mid-1800s Italy and Germany achieved national unity with patriotic citizens devoted to their countries. Nationalism, however, also set the stage for war as it instigated competition between nations for materials to be used in factories, markets to sell goods in, and the rush to control foreign territories in Africa and Asia. As distrust between countries grew, the European powers built up their militaries with rivalries leading to the creation of complex webs of secret defense agreements between nations outlining specific stipulations and obligations. This pulled many nations into war when only a few of which were aggressive. These complicated alliance networks required members to enter into hostilities if their alliance partner was attacked, but not if their partner was the aggressor (this is how Italy argued that it did not have to go to war on the side of belligerent Germany). In the 1880s, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance (which later became the Central Powers and no longer included Italy). In response to the Triple Alliance, the Franco-Russian Alliance was formalized between 1891 and 1893 with Britain, France, and Russia joining together under the Triple Entente (later referred to as the Allied Powers which included Italy). While the alliances were designed to keep peace, a disagreement between any two rival powers could pull the whole continent into war. In 1914, a chain reaction starting with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne would ignite the largest war Europe and the world had ever seen.
European Alliance System Precipitating Events that Led to War in Europe On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated by a Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Princip and other Yugoslav nationalists wanted to be liberated from Austrian rule. The assassination set a series of events in motion culminating in a declaration of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The prevailing alliance system of the time drew all major European powers into the war and global conflict. Video 🔘 Library of Congress
War in Europe The Spreading Conflict from the European Continent Wikimedia Commons GREEN : Countries aligned the Allied Powers. Interactive Timeline 🔘 ORANGE : Countries aligned with the Central Powers. GREY : Countries that remained neutral in the war.
Principal Combatants Allied Powers Central Powers United Kingdom (Britain) Germany France Austria - Hungary Russia Ottoman Empire Italy Bulgaria Serbia Montenegro Belgium Japan Greece Romania United States
American Neutrality Evaporates The United States Joins the Fight on the European Continent President Wilson sought to maintain American neutrality, however, escalating German aggression drew the United States into conflict. Instigating factors such as the May 7, 1915, German U-boat sinking of the RMS Lusitania ocean liner carrying over 100 Americans, the January 1917 German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, and the early 1917 interception and publication of the Zimmermann Telegram sent by Germany urging Mexico to collude against America prompted Congress to formally declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Library of Congress
Instigating Factors on the Road to War Library of Congress Library of Congress Library of Congress
War Industry Global War Requires Unprecedented Cooperation The vast scale of World War I required the American public to form an unprecedented labor force organized to support the concerted effort. To avoid suggestion of government coercion, voluntary collaboration between government and business was encouraged by the Wilson administration. Congress established the War Industries Board to align national interests with those of industry. The board achieved its nationalistic and financial objectives by cajoling domestic businesses, growing profit margins and threatening public shaming by labeling uncooperative businesses and their owners/proprietors as unpatriotic. Library of Congress
War Industry Unions Cease Opportunity of the War to Improve Worker’s Lives Large unions such as the American Federation of Labor capitalized on the need for organized labor to secure better wages and working conditions for American laborers. Conflicts arose within the workforce during the war with thousands of strikes in 1917 resulting in work stoppages in the war effort dependent industries of mining, forestry, and ship building. The war also presented more than one million American women the opportunity to move away from domestic service work and non factory textile labor as they found temporary employment in skills based jobs located in factories and offices across the country. Library of Congress
On the Home Front The War Increases Labor Needs, Food Conservation, and Volunteer Efforts America's deepening involvement in the global war positioned women to play a critical role on the home front as Selective Service – age men headed overseas to serve in the Armed Forces. Working in factories, planting and harvesting war garden crops, and organizing volunteer services groups, women provided domestic services and goods for American troops headed overseas. The federal government capitalized on state and municipal activism through women's organizations to help fuel the war effort. Library of Congress While some states gave women leadership positions and the right to vote, a glass ceiling prevented full gender equality during this era. Audio 🔘 Despite social, political, economic barriers, and disappointments, women viewed the war as an opportunity to expand upon their constitutional rights. Library of Congress
Home Front Contributions Volunteerism as the Fulcrum for Female Empowerment Active in thirty-three states by the summer of 1918, volunteer groups such as the Women’s Land Army sought to use women’s labor to address the threat of food shortages due to the war. The “Farmerettes” secured labor contracts guaranteeing wages, hours, and working conditions rarely seen for agricultural workers at the time. Library of Congress Victory Gardens played a pivotal role in the war by increasing the national food supply and educating the nations school aged children Library of Congress and general public to decrease waste as an act of patriotism. Library of Congress
Wartime Government Oversight Following European Lead, America Seeks to Streamline the Economy To stem the tide of food waste within the country, the U.S. Food Administration launched a campaign in 1917 targeting schools, libraries, grocery stores, and public transit. Utilizing women’s group volunteers, the campaign and others like it highlighted the ways homemakers could plan economically and nutritionally balanced meals for their families while also supporting the national war effort. Library of Congress Other measures undertaken to increase American efficiency included the adoption of Daylight Savings Time in March 1918 as a means to conserve electricity in urban areas. Library of Congress
Waste Not, Want Not Library of Congress Library of Congress
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